Let me add a little info about chicken that may be more info than you want. The term "free range" when it comes to meat birds is a marketing ploy with no meaning whatsoever. All that the USDA requires to call birds "free range" is that a door is shown on the plans of the chicken house, whether or not that door is ever opened and whether or not the birds ever go out and regardless of the quality of the range. Meat birds are hybrids, bred to put on weight so fast that by the time they are halfway to slaughter weight, they can hardly walk. (Slaughter weight is 6-8 weeks; they would never survive to sexual maturity as their hearts and bone structure would give out.) They're not going far from the feed trough. The ONLY way to get a real "free range" meat bird is to find a small local grower who raises what's called "pastured poultry." These birds are raised in bottomless cages on pasture; the farmer pulls the cage daily to fresh, green grass and the birds inside waddle along with it. Almost always, they are slaughtered at the farm and pick up is usually at the farm. I know about this because I raised pastured poultry for 7 years, and though my partner and I no longer do it, we are lucky enough to be able to buy pastured poultry from a couple who started up after we quit. BTW, the term "free range" for eggs does have real meaning, and free range eggs are well worth searching out. Egg birds will range far and wide, searching for the insects and other goodies that make their eggs so delicious and healthy. But for meat birds, the farmer has to bring the birds to the goodies, hence "pastured poultry."

I poach chicken breasts for salad. Poach is a very slow simmer.I put some water....what looks like enough to cover the bricken into a pot with a lid, add some onion...a slice for just a small but of chicken, a bit of celery, the leaves are OK...no need to chop, a whole clove of garlic...2 if I have a lot of chicken to cook, and some parsley...if I have another use for the ruffley part I will just use the stems, and something acid...maybe a wedge of lemon, a splash of dry wine, a spoon of vinegar... a bit of salt...pepper. Bring to a boil and boil for a bit....5 minutes if you are in a hurry, 20 minutes if the phone rings! Turn the fire off and add the chicken, turn the heat back on and keep at a slow simmer until its' done...depends on the amount of chicken you are cooking but 12 to 15 minutes is about right. Cut into the chicken to see when it's done....don't over cook. Remove chicken from broth, strain and save the broth for other uses....you may want to reduce it a bit. Or just poach the chicken in white wine. That was my father's secret recipe! He would pack chicken breasts,with the skin, into a heavy pot, cover with Virginia Dare white wine...sweet, icky, fruity....and slowly simmer until the chicken was done....then he would brown the chicken in a bit of butter, reduce down the cooking liquid add fruit....think it was pineapple maybe canned peaches, I forget, and thicken with cornstarch and serve over the chicken! LOL! I forgot about that! Linda C

Hi L. I make a simpler version of Chances Mom's recipe below. I take bone in thighs and mix with sweet potatoes and white potatoes and onions and toss all together in a big roasting pan with some oil, balsamic vinegar and mustard, rosemary, thyme, s&p. Then I just roast it (turning and basing a couple of times cause the balsamic turns it all nice and dark brown) for about an hour at 400. End of my recipe. I think your ingredients all sound terrific - including the jelly and rosemary. I bet you could roast it all together for an hour at 400 tossing and basting occasionally. (I don't, however, know about roasting the apple - I've never done that.) I hope this helps you a bit. Here is Chances Mom's original recipe, FYI. Chances Mom/Janet Burnished Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes, Parsnips and Shallots 3 tbsp olive oil 3 tbsp dijon mustard 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic salt and pepper 8 chicken thighs (I get them boned so they are easier to eat) 1 med large peeled sweet potato (I subbed 5 small potatoes quartered) cut into 1/2 inch pieces 4 med parsnips peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces 4 small shallots, peeled and halved thru root (I used at least 6) I also added 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces 3 strips bacon (I used pancetta diced)cooked and crumbled Stir together oil, mustard balsamic salt and pepper in large bowl, add chicken and toss. Marinate at least 1 hr and upto 8 hrs. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken skin up on large rimmed baking sheet. At other end of sheet toss veggies with salt and pepper (I also added some butter). Roast 20 minutes, then baste chicken and stir veggies. Contine basting and stirring every 10 minutes. (I didn't do this just left it) When chicken is done, take veggies out and toss with 1/2 of the bacon , and transfer to serving platter, top with chicken and toss rest of bacon over. Because I used deboned thighs, I started the veggies about 15 minutes before adding the chicken and cooked the whole thing about and hour. The beauty of this dish is it can hold for quite a while without getting over done or dried out. Both times I made it when we had company and kind of forgot about it til it was time to eat. The chicken comes out a beautiful burnished brown and the veggies are sweet.

You can just substitute whatever chicken parts you favor for this: CHICKEN PAPRIKASH (serves 6-8) 2 TBL butter 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 minced garlic clove 1 1/2 TBL paprika 1 tsp salt 1 tomato, peeled & chopped 1 green pepper, seeded & chopped 3/4 cup chicken stock One 3 lb broiler-fryer cut into pieces 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup half-and-half 1/2 cup sour cream In a heavy kettle heat the butter, add the onions & garlic & saute until light brown (don't burn the garlic.) Add the paparika, salt, tomato, green pepper & stock. Cover & cook 10 minutes. Add the chicken, cover & cook until tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the skin from the chicken breast & thighs & return the meat to the kettle. Add water or additional chicken stock, if ncessary to make 1 1/4 cups broth. Add the flour blended w/the half-and-half & a little of the hot sauce & cook, stirring until thickened. Ad the sour cream & cook just until heated through. Do not let boil. Serve over noodles or rice.~~Craig Claiborne